Deadly LPG tanker - car collision; 19 injured, 3 dead

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Jan 1: A tanker loaded with 19 tons of cooking gas, moving from Mangalore toward the Indian Oil Corporation’s bottling plant at Paripally, collided with a car, turned over, and instantly caught fire near Karunagapally, 100 kms to the north of Trivandrum on Dec 31, Thursday. The massive fire that ensued killed 3 people and seriously injured 19 others. 

The fire consumed a few shops, a number of motorcycles parked nearby, as well as a police jeep. The firefighting team took nearly 7 hours to douse it. People within a radius of 2 kms were evacuated because the flames were literally leaping around and a thick cloud of dark smoke engulfed the entire area. 

The occupants of the car with which the tanker collided were rescued by a police team and rushed to a nearby hospital. The police van however caught fire and 2 policemen were seriously injured. 

The deceased are Rasheed (32), Biju (30), and Pradeepkumar, a policeman.